Prayer for Zimbabwe

This is a lengthy post – I ask that you bear with me…Our congregation has for several years supported Kevin and Susan Fry and the work of Eden Children’s Village in Zimbabwe.  Members of our congregation sponsor individual children at the mission. 

The is little news coverage, but the situation is rapidly deteriorating in that country following the last month’s elections. The general consensus is that the ruling party and it’s leader Robert Mugabe have lost control of government, but election results were never released and a “re-election” is planned.

The ruling party is not willing to give up power peacefully and is using terror and intimidation tactics to retain control.  The Fry’s and Eden have been a particular target. Susan is currently in the States with a group of the children who are participating in some academic competitions. (We will have the chance to fellowship with them at Rainbow Camp next week, PTL!)  Kevin is in Zimbabwe, trying to keep the Eden employees and the orphans safe.

Please pray.

Below are transcripts of daily correspondence we are receiving from Kevin…

Sunday:

Things have become quite violent in Doma in the last 20 hours. The Party is after the 7 employees who assisted in the election campaign. (They did not ask to do this; they were told they had to assist). Daniel managed to get away before getting pounded, but narrowly missed losing his 13 month old. Thugs threw concrete blocks through the windows, and just missed the baby.

Punish has taken quite a beating. He was actually abducted to Chapumani Farm after the police fired warning shots, where he was severely beaten.

The Youth Brigade came to our property this morning, and they beat most of the 200 people who live on this property in an effort to get them to go to a political rally at Cecilmour Farm, which has been the scene of a number of families having their homes and belongings burnt.

People will become quite wound up at this rally this afternoon, and the Youth Brigade has promised to return tonight to beat everyone and burn all the houses. Our employees intend to fight back (NOT their usual way of handling things).

I will keep you posted as things unfold. Above all, PRAY!!! We need Father Yahweh to show His power, and save His children!

We have waited for this day for eight years, and for those long years we have had the miraculous protection of the Almighty. Today, we are asking for His will to be done. We pray for the protection of the children, our staff, and their families. We have actually been praying that people will be allowed to literally see the heavenly host protecting Eden, and that this will bring fruit for the Kingdom.

I want you to know that I am not anxious or fearful. I have things I have to do here. I have packed a small suitcase and a backpack for a quick evacuation, if that is warranted.

Kevin

Monday

We thankfully had a quiet night in Doma last night. Between the generator and the local power company, we were able to keep lights on all night. The thugs prefer to work in the dark, and wear masks to keep from being identified. So lighting is a deterrent. I had teachers and some orphans who are on the hit list sleep at the house last night, and they will continue for a few nights, until we can get some more information.

The military was at the rally at Cecilmour Farm. Eden employees and their families comprise about 75% of the township population, and they were told in no uncertain terms that Kevin and Susan Fry are targets, and Eden will certainly be taken apart. They told them this will not be by a few, but by hundreds. The difficult thing in these situations is to determine what is a genuine threat, and what is the usual hot-air bravado.

In any case, we have an obligation to report threats to the US Embassy, and that report will be filed sometime tomorrow. We are trying to gather a few more names of specific individuals involved in the threats. What the Embassy does is file a complaint with the Foreign Relations Committee, which reports to the President himself. There are bilateral agreements still in place that are supposed to provide protection for our foreign investment. Eden is under the umbrella of our foreign investment, part of our corporate responsibility programme. This has been on file for nearly ten years.

We still covet your prayers. There will likely be another election for the presidency, and things will continue to escalate until that exercise is finished. We are hearing unofficially that the runoff could be as early as the 24th of May. We just pray that it is not postponed another 90 days!

Inflation has hit a record 400,000%, and the marketplace is in total chaos. Bread is now $150,000,000 a loaf, and there are riots to get it. We have truly slipped into an abyss!

I will keep you posted as things develop. THANK YOU for your faithful prayers! They keep us going, and keep us protected. Prayer is a most powerful weapon!

Kevin

Today (Tuesday)

Violence continues to escalate in Doma. Last night a cooking hut was burned on our property, and there was a major fight between employees and the thugs sent by ZANU-PF. The greatest casualty in the fire was little Luckmore, a five-year-old AIDS orphan living with an employee’s family. Luckmore was quite traumatized by the fire — he has suffered third degree burns twice in his life with two different incidents. He has extensive scarring on his head from falling in a fire as a toddler, and he is recovering from a child spilling boiling porridge on his back. Last night’s fire was targeted on this particular family to traumatize this tiny child. We see this as attempted murder.

We have notified the police, and the Provincial Social Welfare Officer of this event. The Provincial Officer is at the police station as I write this to demand action on this crime. He is also requesting protection for the orphans in our care who are wards of the State.

Our teachers continue to be targeted. Shupikai Wairesi was severely beaten while visiting family at Kismet Farm just 2 miles away, and ZANU-PF has indicated that they will severely beat every teacher at Eden Christian Academy. They assume that our teachers will vote against the ruling party, and the intimidation tactic is to get them out of the area so that they cannot vote in a presidential runoff.

We will be evacuating all of our teachers within the next 48 hours. Our students will be taught leathercraft by a skilled artisan while we wait for things to settle down. We are also making plans to evacuate all the orphans if things continue to escalate. We will take them to a national park for a bush awareness course for a couple of weeks. We are actively making plans…

My presence in Doma appears to be inflammatory, and I will be packing the house down tomorrow, and moving to Harare. I need to file reports with the US Embassy, and I need to see our attorney in Harare about confronting our Member of Parliament personally about his responsibility in this terrorism. I have many things I need to get done in Harare, so the move is beneficial at this point.

All of this trouble comes from just one source. Douglas Mombeshora, MP, has libeled Susan and I repeatedly in his campaign speeches, and he has inflamed the racist hatred that is manifested all around us. Our employees are being beaten because it is a crime to assist indigenous children, and an even greater crime to work for a white person. None of this is legal, of course. It is not illegal for us to operate our foreign investment, and it is not illegal to operate assistance programmes for destitute children, and it is not illegal to operate a licensed medical clinic.

We would certainly appreciate your prayers! We are hanging by a thread here, and all are very discouraged and frightened.

I will fill you in on more as things develop. I will be sending photographs in another e-mail.

Thank you all for all your prayers! I think they are preventing fatalities!

Kevin

I simply have no bucket to put any of that in – persecution is so far removed from us American Christians…  All I know to do is weep and pray.

I ask that you do the same.